close

Phillis, Burgettstown enjoy successful day at county coaches’ meet

3 min read
article image -

McMURRAY – A little more than two weeks ago, Burgettstown’s Seth Phillis was deadlifting 500 pounds.

He isn’t built like a football kicker, yet he’s a very good one.

You wouldn’t pick him out a lineup to be a speedster, but the junior for the Blue Devils showed just how much get up and go he really has Saturday afternoon.

Standing in a lane to the left of two-time defending 100-meter-dash champion Kamden Martin of Canon-McMillan, Phillis did not have to look far to find his toughest competition. Jockeying down the stretch in lanes three and four, Phillis prevented a third consecutive gold by less than one-tenth of a second at the Washington-Greene County Coaches’ Track & Field Championships at Peters Township High School.

“I knew who my main competition was,” Phillis said. “He was running right next to me. It was nice having him there because he never left my sight. He beat me last year, so I knew what I was up against. I just really wanted to get the win.”

Phillis’ finish in 11.57 seconds was enough to edge Martin, who was returning from a strained hamstring suffered about three weeks ago. Neither time was better than the two posted last year at the same event when Martin won by two-tenths of a second.

The win for Phillis sparked a strong day on the track for Burgettstown.

James Choff won gold in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.96, nearly four seconds better than the second-place finisher. Phillis and Choff were a part of the Blue Devils’ 400-meter relay team that remained intact with Gage Monette and Cyle Conley from last season. The four ran away with a second consecutive gold at the county meeting, finishing in 44.84 seconds in the windy conditions.

“We had a good day,” said Burgettstown track coach Kelly Ward. “Individuals stood out. That’s what you want to see.”

Ward also was pleased the third, and final, handoff between Monette and Conley, the anchor for the Blue Devils, went smoothly.

“That third handoff has been trouble all year,” Ward said. “We’ve had problems in different section meets. But they came out excited to (win gold) again. It’s just their natural speed and desire. They want to do very well. It turned out very well today.”

The win for Phillis in the 100 was his first individual gold at the event, motivated to make an appearance in the WPIAL championships in the individual and team events. He barely missed the final qualifying spot for the 100 last year.

“My times have just been improving over the years,” Phillis said. “It’s been a lot of weight training and pushing myself every day at practice. I want play football and kick in college, so that’s been priority one. The speed just kind of comes naturally.”

Other top-three finishes for Burgettstown were Phillis winning bronze in the 200 dash, Choff finishing third in the 110 hurdles, Turner Lehman placing second in the discus and Bobby Kozares tying for first in the high jump.

At last year’s WPIAL Track & Field Championships, the 400 relay team for the Blue Devils finished ninth out of 16 teams with a time of 45.47. It is a number all four returners have in their sites to improve upon this season.

“We don’t normally get to meets like this with all these different teams,” Monette said. “It’s just everybody from Washington and Greene counties. We get a chance to see where we stand. Being at the top is pretty awesome.”

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today